Contributors

Contributors are people who in one way or another contribute to the work of The CHBG. Contributors are defined with different roles such as authors, peer reviewers, consumer peer reviewers, handsearchers, translators, editors, assistants, information technology specialists, and miscellaneous consumers.

The work of the permanent staff at the Copenhagen Editrial Team Office is funded through the Danish Government's yearly financial support to The Copenhagen Trial Unit, and the work of the remaining contributors is on voluntary basis.

AuthorsAuthors are researchers working or having worked on a systematic review. Once the authors publish their review in The Cochrane Library, they are entitled to a free access to The Cochrane Library or free DVD-issues of the Library in the following 24 months. The free subscription period continues as long as their review is kept up-to-date, ie, an updated version of their review is republished every second year.

The names of the authors can be obtained by contacting The CHBG Editorial Team Office or can be found through searching The Cochrane Library where they have published their protocol or review, or where their title for an ongoing systematic review is registered.

Peer reviewersPeer reviewers are identified and selected most often through searching for publications on a topic similar to the submitted for publication Cochrane protocol or review. The approached people are requested to adhere to the ethical guidelines for peer reviewers set up by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), while commenting on a protocol or a review.

The names of the peer reviewers are acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section of the protocol or the review. At request, a separate letter of acknowledgement is also sent to peer reviewers.

The CHBG maintains also a database on Archie with names of past peer reviewers or people who have expressed a wish to comment on Cochrane protocols and reviews.

Consumer peer reviewersIdeally, consumer peer reviewers are people having or having had the disease that the review deals with, or relatives or caretakers of such people. The identification of consumer peer reviewers is not an easy task, and we urge people to contact us whenever they see a registered title on a topic of interest to them.

Consumer peer reviewers contribute to the quality of The CHBG protocols and reviews by providing a consumer perspective prior to its publication. By commenting on a protocol, consumers strive to ensure that the included outcomes are relevant to consumers and by commenting on a review, consumers strive to ensure that the language is clear and precise. Consumer peer reviewers are also requested to prepare review summaries in plain language or comment on the "Plain Language Summary".

The name of the consumer peer reviewer is also acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section of the protocol or review with its publication in The Cochrane Library.

HandsearchersHandsearching is a time-consuming task as medical journals are searched for accounts of trials and studies not yet indexed in the major electronic databases like MEDLINE and EMBASE. The CHBG, just like any other Cochrane Review Group and Fields/Networks, is responsible to search the specialist literature in the hepato-biliary area to identify randomised clinical trials, controlled clinical studies, meta-analyses, and diagnostic test accuracy studies for the preparation of Cochrane reviews. This is why we are looking for people who can handsearch not universally known electronic databases containg references to clinical trials, non-English language journals, and other published materials from congresses, simposia, etc. Knowledge on unpublished materials is also of great interest to us, as trials with positive results are published much more ofthen that trials with negative results. The studies that we need to collect and add to our CHBG databases are trials and studies that we use for inclusion in intervention reviews as well as in diagnostic test accuracy reviews.

If you wish to contribute as a handsearcher, please send an e-mail to the Trials Search Co-ordinator (slk@ctu.dk).

Translators Translators are people who help with the translation of the methodological parts of the study publications or with study data extraction after authors' requests. Translators receive instructions by e-mail sent to them by the Managing Editor (dimitrinka.nikolova@ctu.dk) or the Trials Search Co-ordinaror (slk@ctu.dk) of The CHBG on what they are expected to do.

With Issue 4, 2007, people who with their command of languages other than English have contributed in some way to the performance of a review are acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section of the respective protocol or review.

If you wish to contribute as a translator, please send an e-mail to the Trials Search Co-ordinator.

EditorsEditors are people interested in increasing the quality and reliability of the published evidence-based systematic reviews. This is achieved, among others, by providing guidance to authors during the review preparartion, by ensuring the quality of the peer reviewing comments received and forwarded to the authors, by taking part in CHBG activities, by adhering to its policies and suggesting changes if needed, by promoting The CHBG achievements, etc. Editors strive to meet the needs of all those who are using the systematic reviews. The CHBG editors are now expected to have authored a minimum of three reviews before applying for the position. Editors should also adhere to the The COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors.

The names of the editors who have supervised the development of the protocol or review until publication are acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section of the respective protocol or review.

Assistants and IT specialistsThese are people who assist The CHBG whenever we need their help.

Miscellaneous consumersThe contact details of people who have expressed their interest in the work of The CHBG are kept in The CHBG membership database on Archie. If you are one of these people, please remember to update your contact details if changes occur.